Questions and answers
Straight answers, before you spend anything
If your question is not here, write to us and a person will answer it. We would rather you asked than guessed.
What this is
The product, in plain terms.
What is a Constellation Trail lesson?
A true story from history, or occasionally a story we wrote, printed on paper and read together at your table. Each free lesson runs about six pages and takes roughly fifteen minutes.
Every lesson is built around a fork in the road: a real person came to a hard choice, and the lesson ends with one question for your child and one small thing to try during the week.
What ages is it for?
Roughly ages 8 to 12. Younger children usually follow along fine when a parent reads aloud. Older children can read it themselves, though the discussion questions are pitched at the middle of that range.
Is it religious?
The lessons are about character, not doctrine, and they are written so that any family can use them. We do not preach and we do not tell your family what to believe.
Some of the stories come from the Bible, because they are among the best-known character stories in the world. The Good Samaritan and Daniel are two of them. They are told as stories, alongside stories from documented history such as Eric Liddell, Abraham Lincoln and Clara Barton.
If a particular story is not right for your family, skip it. Every lesson stands on its own.
How is a paid unit different from a free lesson?
A free lesson is about six pages on one story. A Character Unit is thirteen pages on one real person: the fuller story, the history around it, and where the account comes from.
Units are $12 each, delivered as a PDF immediately after checkout. The free lessons stay free whether or not you ever buy one.
How often do new lessons come out?
We publish a new free lesson when the next one is ready, and we email the list when it is. We deliberately do not promise a fixed weekly schedule, because we would rather be late than publish something we have not checked.
Using it
Printing, sharing, groups and classrooms.
Do I need a printer?
No. Every lesson reads perfectly well on a screen, and there is a Download PDF button on each one. But it is designed for paper, and most families find the conversation goes better when the screen is out of the way.
The pages are sized for an ordinary home printer on standard letter paper. Black and white is fine.
Can I share the free lessons?
Yes. Please do. The free lessons are free to print and free to pass to another family. That is the point of them.
Can I use a paid unit with a co-op, a classroom or a church group?
A unit is licensed for one household or one classroom. That covers a family, or one teacher with their own class.
For a co-op, a multi-classroom school, or a children's ministry running several groups, write to us first and we will work out something fair. We would rather sort it out with you than have you guess.
Buying, refunds and money
What happens at checkout, and what happens if it does not suit you.
What is your refund policy?
Thirty days, no argument. If a unit does not work for your family, email us within thirty days of buying it and we will refund it in full. You do not have to explain why.
The full terms are on the Refunds and Terms page.
Do I have to create an account?
No. There are no accounts on this site at all, for you or for your child. You buy, the PDF downloads, and that is the end of it.
Payments are handled by Stripe. Your card details go to Stripe and never touch our site.
Who is behind Constellation Trail?
Constellation Trail is published by Deluge Analytics, LLC, a small independent studio in Alabama. It is not a large publisher and there is no committee. When you email, a person reads it.
Your family's privacy
The part we care most about getting right.
Do you collect anything about my child?
No. Nothing at all. There are no child accounts, no child profiles, no progress tracking tied to a child, and nowhere on this site for a child to type anything.
The lessons are paper. Your child never touches our systems, so there is nothing of theirs for us to hold, lose or share.
What do you collect about me?
If you join the email list: your email address, your first name if you give it, and which page you signed up from. Nothing else.
If you buy something: Stripe handles the payment and we see the order and your email so we can send you the file.
For visitor counts we use a self-hosted, cookie-free tool called Umami that runs on our own server. It sets no cookies and stores nothing that identifies you. We do not track email opens.
Do you sell or share any of it?
No. We do not sell, rent, trade or share your information with anyone. No advertisers, no data brokers, no exceptions.
Can I have my information deleted?
Yes, at any time. Reply to any email we send, or write to the address on our contact page, and ask. We will delete it and confirm when it is done.
You can also unsubscribe from any email using the link in its footer, which stops the emails without you having to ask us anything.
The full detail is in our Privacy Policy.
Still have a question?
Write to us. There is no ticket system and no bot standing between you and an answer.